The descent of mobile consoles

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The Nintendo 3DS is out this week. The 5th iteration of the DS console, a major, major piece of hardware (approx 150 million worldwide sales as of end of Dec, 2010). It’s the first commercial 3D hardware release that doesn’t require glasses, and the biggest Nintendo hardware release since the Wii in 2006. But I just don’t care.

It’s been totally blown out the water with regards to hype by another release. A little thing called the iPad 2. This is a multi-skilled tablet that can do internet, email and games.

It’s a similar pattern with Sony – the other major player in the handheld console market. The NGP was announced – big, touchscreen, touch sensitive back, better graphics, twin sticks. It looks very nice, and seems to tick all the tech boxes, but I can’t get excited by it. Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities (and often seen as a clear view with regards to the games industry) announced the “PSP2″ as ‘dead on arrival‘, and I tend to agree. I learnt in this generation that having to carry a PSP really doesn’t ‘do it’ for me. The same as a MP3 player. My iPhone has rendered both obsolete.